Development and Validation of the Adolescent Sexting Scale (A-SextS) with a Spanish Sample

Cristian Molla Esparza, Pablo Nájera, Emelina López-González and Josep-Maria Losilla
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Cristian Molla Esparza: Department of Research Methods and Educational Diagnosis, Faculty of Philosophy and Educational Sciences, University of Valencia, Avenida Blasco Ibáñez 30, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Pablo Nájera: Department of Social Psychology and Methodology, Faculty of Psychology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Cantoblanco Campus, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Emelina López-González: Department of Research Methods and Educational Diagnosis, Faculty of Philosophy and Educational Sciences, University of Valencia, Avenida Blasco Ibáñez 30, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Josep-Maria Losilla: Department of Psychobiology and Methodology of Health Sciences, Faculty of Psychology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Carrer Fortuna Edifici B, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-22

Abstract: “Sexting” is generally defined as the exchange of sexual media content via the internet. However, research on this topic has underscored the need to seek greater consensus when considering different conceptual elements that make up this definition. The aim of this study was to develop and validate an instrument for measuring sexting among adolescents, in order to cover a gap identified in the previous literature. The Adolescent Sexting Scale (A-SextS for short) was developed for validation on a sample of 579 Spanish secondary school pupils between the ages of 11 and 18. Evidence for face, content, concurrent, and criterion validity were assessed. A comprehensive set of 64 items, covering six defining characteristics of sexting (e.g., actions, recipient, media format, degree of sexual explicitness), was constructed after conducting an extensive literature review, two discussion groups, and a pilot study. Sexting prevalence rates measured by A-SextS were mostly concurrent with those found in previous studies. A-SextS subscales produced statistically significant positive associations with pornography consumption and physical sexual intercourse. The study shows that A-SextS can be an integrating instrument that facilitates a rigorous and comprehensive assessment of adolescent sexting experiences, as well as the formulation of an operationalized definition of the practice of sexting.

Keywords: sexting; definition; measurement; validation; adolescents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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